Goddess of Liberty

ROAD TRIP: PART TWO




My "crazy" Uncle Mike was always a lot of fun to be around growing up. He was tattooed, drove a muscle car (a copper Duster if I recall) and was always just wonderful with me and my cousins when then entire Howton family lived in Corsicana, Texas.

My first Halloween was when my Uncle Mike took me around. He introduced me to sliced bananas on a peanut butter sandwich. He lived with us on and off over the years as he was single and either somewhat nomadic or always in and out of trouble - I don't know which, but I'll guess the latter.

And he was a great friend to my brother when he needed him the most. They were very close later in life and I always appreciated Mike's generosity and kindness no matter what the circumstances. When we lived in Irving and he was in Dallas we visited him, often bringing our newborn son with us. But as these things sometimes turn out, by the time we had our daughter, we'd moved out of the area.

I'll guess the latter because he fell on hard times once and I went with my father and grandfather to find him living in a park in East Dallas. They bundled him in the car, took him to my grandfather's house and cut off his beard, bathed him, fed him, and brought him to our house in Rhome, Texas where my father had built an entire apartment in our garage for him to reside. He got a job at the local foundry - one of the few businesses which actually operated within the city, then became a local celebrity.
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